Mr. Cole is a partner in the Commercial Practice Group at Handler Thayer, LLP and concentrates his practice in the areas of capital investment, finance, joint ventures, and real estate. He also works closely with the firm’s Advanced Planning Group on certain estate and tax planning structures. Mr. Cole’s clients range from S&P 500 companies to entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals. He is adept at identifying, developing, and executing structured solutions to achieve his client’s business and tax planning goals.
Mr. Cole has structured and closed over $1.6B of joint venture transactions (including both “one-off” and programmatic joint ventures), and his capital investment/transactional experience also includes: structuring early stage investments in growth companies; formation of private investment funds and fund-of-funds; private placement offerings, convertible debt and equity investments, partnership roll-ups, and related securities matters; asset and stock purchase agreements, including distressed equity and debt; and secured and unsecured financing; participations; and mezzanine, construction and permanent loans on behalf of borrowers and lenders.
Mr. Cole also works closely with the firm’s Advanced Planning Group on wealth transfer planning and business succession planning, including: structured transactions involving private stock; Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) and sales to intentionally defective trusts (IDGTs); business and estate planning transactions involving trusts, FLLCs and FLPs; and charitable planning.
Mr. Cole’s real estate experience includes property acquisitions and dispositions, and development. He has also counseled clients in the hospitality industry with respect to capital and development matters. Some examples of his real estate experience include: restructuring of development and operating obligations with equity providers, lenders, and hotel franchisors; complex tax planning for REITs, including tax deferral through issuance of REIT operating partnership units, and 1031 like-kind exchanges; office and retail lease agreements on behalf of landlords and tenants; and negotiation of various development-related agreements, including construction contracts, architect’s agreements and design-build agreements.
Mr. Cole earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. In addition, he is a Certified Public Accountant and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Illinois.